The United Nations
Fourth World Conference on Women

Strategic objective D.1. Take integrated measures to prevent and eliminate violence against women. Actions to be taken.Strategic objective D.2. Study the causes and consequences of violence against women and the effectiveness of preventive measures. Actions to be taken.Strategic objective D.3. Eliminate trafficking in women and assist victims of violence due to prostitution and trafficking. Actions to be taken.

Violence against women is an obstacle to the achievement of the
objectives of equality, development and peace. Violence against
women both
violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women of their
human rights
and fundamental freedoms. The long-standing failure to protect and
promote
those rights and freedoms in the case of violence against women is
a matter of
concern to all States and should be addressed. Knowledge about its
causes and
consequences, as well as its incidence and measures to combat it,
have been
greatly expanded since the Nairobi Conference. In all societies,
to a greater
or lesser degree, women and girls are subjected to physical, sexual
and
psychological abuse that cuts across lines of income, class and
culture. The
low social and economic status of women can be both a cause and a
consequence
of violence against women.

The term "violence against women" means any act of gender-based
violence
that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or
psychological
harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts,
coercion or
arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or
private life.
Accordingly, violence against women encompasses but is not limited
to the
following:

Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the
family,
including battering, sexual abuse of female children in
the
household, dowry-related violence, marital rape, female
genital
mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to
women, non-
spousal violence and violence related to exploitation;

Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within
the
general community, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual
harassment
and intimidation at work, in educational institutions and
elsewhere,
trafficking in women and forced prostitution;

Physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or
condoned
by the State, wherever it occurs.

Other acts of violence against women include violation of the
human
rights of women in situations of armed conflict, in particular
murder,
systematic rape, sexual slavery and forced pregnancy.

Acts of violence against women also include forced
sterilization and
forced abortion, coercive/forced use of contraceptives, female
infanticide and
prenatal sex selection.

Some groups of women, such as women belonging to minority
groups,
indigenous women, refugee women, women migrants, including women
migrant
workers, women in poverty living in rural or remote communities,
destitute
women, women in institutions or in detention, female children,
women with
disabilities, elderly women, displaced women, repatriated women,
women living
in poverty and women in situations of armed conflict, foreign
occupation, wars
of aggression, civil wars, terrorism, including hostage-taking, are
also
particularly vulnerable to violence.

Acts or threats of violence, whether occurring within the home
or in the
community, or perpetrated or condoned by the State, instil fear and
insecurity
in women's lives and are obstacles to the achievement of equality
and for
development and peace. The fear of violence, including harassment,
is a
permanent constraint on the mobility of women and limits their
access to
resources and basic activities. High social, health and economic
costs to the
individual and society are associated with violence against women.
Violence
against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which
women are
forced into a subordinate position compared with men. In many
cases, violence
against women and girls occurs in the family or within the home,
where
violence is often tolerated. The neglect, physical and sexual
abuse, and rape
of girl children and women by family members and other members of
the
household, as well as incidences of spousal and non-spousal abuse,
often go
unreported and are thus difficult to detect. Even when such
violence is
reported, there is often a failure to protect victims or punish
perpetrators.

Violence against women is a manifestation of the historically
unequal
power relations between men and women, which have led to domination
over and
discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of
women's full
advancement. Violence against women throughout the life cycle
derives
essentially from cultural patterns, in particular the harmful
effects of
certain traditional or customary practices and all acts of
extremism linked to
race, sex, language or religion that perpetuate the lower status
accorded to
women in the family, the workplace, the community and society.
Violence
against women is exacerbated by social pressures, notably the shame
of
denouncing certain acts that have been perpetrated against women;
women's lack
of access to legal information, aid or protection; the lack of laws
that
effectively prohibit violence against women; failure to reform
existing laws;
inadequate efforts on the part of public authorities to promote
awareness of
and enforce existing laws; and the absence of educational and other
means to
address the causes and consequences of violence. Images in the
media of
violence against women, in particular those that depict rape or
sexual slavery
as well as the use of women and girls as sex objects, including
pornography,
are factors contributing to the continued prevalence of such
violence,
adversely influencing the community at large, in particular
children and young
people.

Developing a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to the
challenging
task of promoting families, communities and States that are free of
violence
against women is necessary and achievable. Equality, partnership
between
women and men and respect for human dignity must permeate all
stages of the
socialization process. Educational systems should promote
self-respect,
mutual respect, and cooperation between women and men.

The absence of adequate gender-disaggregated data and
statistics on the
incidence of violence makes the elaboration of programmes and
monitoring of
changes difficult. Lack of or inadequate documentation and
research on
domestic violence, sexual harassment and violence against women and
girls in
private and in public, including the workplace, impede efforts to
design
specific intervention strategies. Experience in a number of
countries shows
that women and men can be mobilized to overcome violence in all its
forms and
that effective public measures can be taken to address both the
causes and the
consequences of violence. Men's groups mobilizing against gender
violence are
necessary allies for change.

Women may be vulnerable to violence perpetrated by persons in
positions
of authority in both conflict and non-conflict situations.
Training of all
officials in humanitarian and human rights law and the punishment
of
perpetrators of violent acts against women would help to ensure
that such
violence does not take place at the hands of public officials in
whom women
should be able to place trust, including police and prison
officials and
security forces.

In addressing violence against women, Governments and other
actors
should promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a
gender
perspective in all policies and programmes so that before decisions
are taken
an analysis may be made of their effects on women and men,
respectively.

By Governments, including local governments, community
organizations,
non-governmental organizations, educational institutions, the
public and
private sectors, particularly enterprises, and the mass media, as
appropriate:

Provide well-funded shelters and relief support for girls and
women
subjected to violence, as well as medical, psychological
and other
counselling services and free or low-cost legal aid, where
it is
needed, as well as appropriate assistance to enable them
to find a
means of subsistence;

Establish linguistically and culturally accessible services for
migrant women and girls, including women migrant workers,
who are
victims of gender-based violence;

Recognize the vulnerability to violence and other forms of
abuse of
women migrants, including women migrant workers, whose
legal status
in the host country depends on employers who may exploit
their
situation;

Support initiatives of women's organizations and
non-governmental
organizations all over the world to raise awareness on the
issue of
violence against women and to contribute to its
elimination;

Organize, support and fund community-based education and
training
campaigns to raise awareness about violence against women
as a
violation of women's enjoyment of their human rights and
mobilize
local communities to use appropriate gender-sensitive
traditional
and innovative methods of conflict resolution;

Recognize, support and promote the fundamental role of
intermediate
institutions, such as primary health-care centres,
family-planning
centres, existing school health services, mother and baby
protection
services, centres for migrant families and so forth in the
field of
information and education related to abuse;

Organize and fund information campaigns and educational and
training
programmes in order to sensitize girls and boys and women
and men to
the personal and social detrimental effects of violence in
the
family, community and society; teach them how to
communicate without
violence and promote training for victims and potential
victims so
that they can protect themselves and others against such
violence;

Disseminate information on the assistance available to women
and
families who are victims of violence;

Provide, fund and encourage counselling and rehabilitation
programmes for the perpetrators of violence and promote
research to
further efforts concerning such counselling and
rehabilitation so as
to prevent the recurrence of such violence;

Raise awareness of the responsibility of the media in promoting
non-stereotyped images of women and men, as well as in
eliminating
patterns of media presentation that generate violence, and
encourage
those responsible for media content to establish
professional
guidelines and codes of conduct; also raise awareness of
the
important role of the media in informing and educating
people about
the causes and effects of violence against women and in
stimulating
public debate on the topic.

By Governments, employers, trade unions, community and youth
organizations and non-governmental organizations, as appropriate:

Develop programmes and procedures to eliminate sexual
harassment and
other forms of violence against women in all educational
institutions, workplaces and elsewhere;

Develop programmes and procedures to educate and raise
awareness of
acts of violence against women that constitute a crime and
a
violation of the human rights of women;

Develop counselling, healing and support programmes for girls,
adolescents and young women who have been or are involved
in abusive
relationships, particularly those who live in homes or
institutions
where abuse occurs;

Take special measures to eliminate violence against women,
particularly those in vulnerable situations, such as young
women,
refugee, displaced and internally displaced women, women
with
disabilities and women migrant workers, including
enforcing any
existing legislation and developing, as appropriate, new
legislation
for women migrant workers in both sending and receiving
countries.

By the Secretary-General of the United Nations:

Provide the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human
Rights on
violence against women with all necessary assistance, in
particular
the staff and resources required to perform all mandated
functions,
especially in carrying out and following up on missions
undertaken
either separately or jointly with other special
rapporteurs and
working groups, and adequate assistance for periodic
consultations
with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against
Women and all treaty bodies.

By Governments, international organizations and
non-governmental
organizations:

Encourage the dissemination and implementation of the
UNHCR
Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women and the
UNHCR
Guidelines on the Prevention of and Response to Sexual
Violence
against Refugees.